April … the Bake Off !

Tuesday 23rd April
The Trustee Team and the Denman Bake-Off….
What a day……… they even had the music on and a timer on screen- no pressure then!
We put on our Team Warwickshire T Shirts, courtesy of the lovely Sue Myhill and her sewing machine and we were off!

There were five teams of two taking part today and we watched Kelly Maugher, Head of the Cookery School demonstrate how to make marshmallow before starting off on the Challenge ,which was to make old fashioned chocolate teacakes…….
Melt the chocolate…….. line the half circle moulds with it…..make and bake the shortbread circles……. whisk the egg whites……
“OK so far! AAAHHH “
…… boil the sugar, water and liquid glucose to precisely 128 degrees …… add the gelatine… pour into egg whites in a steady stream whilst whisking……
“Ummmm, Jeryl does this look right?”
Whisk until cool…. force into piping bag…..
“ It’s very sticky – are you sure this is right?”
Pipe, with some difficulty into cholate moulds

smooth , add a spot of jam, press a biscuit down onto the top of each… coat with chocolate and seal. Press on transfer and smooth down…… into fridge!
“Whew, time to wash up and 10 mins to go. …. Oh, NO! We have to make Rocky Road with the leftovers.”
“What do you mean , you don’t know what Rocky Road is?”
“No, nor me, must be like chocolate biscuit cake really. Ok You mix it up and I will make the plate look like a rocky road with a curve of melted chocolate some odd biscuit pavers and mould the marshmallows in to mountains! “
“30 seconds…… Whack it on the plate then! “
A quick cup of tea and then 2 minutes to get the teacakes out of the moulds and on to the judges table.
Nail bitingly nervous we watched the judges cut open a teacake from each team, commenting on the thickness of the chocolate, the elasticity of the marshmallow and the shortness of the biscuit….. then they tried the five lots of Rocky road…. All different as no-one really knew what they were doing! Off the Judges went to consult before announcing that TEAM 4 were the overall winners!

We won! Amazed.
Perfect day!

Easter Monday
Getting ready for tomorrow!
Hope you all had a lovely Easter. We spent almost all weekend digging! Lovely not to be wearing a fleece and jumpers! Just been making arrangements to meet up with Jeryl Stone, Trustee prior to travelling to Denman tomorrow to take part in the Great Denman Bake-Off!. Jeryl says that the lovely Sue Myhill has finished our Team Warwickshire T-shirts so we are all set.

Thursday 18th April
Great news!
Nuneaton Acorns WI went live last night! Fabulous news . Welcome to Warwickshire Federation. We all know that mighty oaks grow from tiny acorns!
The monthly mailing is all done and ready to go !
Well done Sarah and Kathy in the Office . Have a great Easter one and all!

Tuesday 16th April
Membership and Promotion Team is steaming ahead.
Great news from Ruth , the Chair of M&P. It looks like we may well have a new WI starting in the Nuneaton Area! Brilliant. Can’t wait to hear if the inaugural meeting is a success!

Digital Strategy Team
Plans are going ahead for the Digital Committee Evening on 23rd July. Up to 6 members of your Wi Committee can come along and find out what other WIs across the Federation do to use digital means to help them! If you haven’t sent your form in yet then please do!

Monday 15th April
A good meeting all round!
The key staff at Dallas Burston made the Officers very welcome this afternoon and were very positive about the feedback which we gave to them. They were so impressed that 450 plus members took the trouble to give feedback!

Speakers Showcase
A good evening at Leamington Baptist Church. Its such a good idea to come along and listen to a five minute taster session from best part of 20 speakers! I always say it’s your chance to “Try before you Buy” – everyone found the evening really useful.. Well done, Trustee Team for another useful and successful event for our members.